2nd RMA MPSG Workshop on Philosophy of Human+Computer Music

We warmly invite you to participate in this one day RMA Music and Philosophy Study Group workshop, to discuss philosophical questions raised by human+computer music.

On the musical side, fundamental issues raised by the production and reception of this music are often obscured in the literature by a focus on technical details of system construction or function. Meanwhile, philosophical work on music is typically focused on acoustic instrumental/vocal works, and arguably has yet fully to engage with the challenges raised by current movements in human+computer music. This is especially the case when human+computer music does not conform to the established work-concept and/or pitch-based structures.

The keynote event will be a performance discussion session, featuring Pete Furniss on clarinet+computer. Pete’s expert live performance will provide tangible examples for debate: the exact nature of the music can be interrogated and its potential changeability questioned.

Call for papers:

We invite papers on topics related to human+computer music. Relevant themes include but are not limited to:

The ontology of human+computer music systems (are human+computer musics bound to lead to what Georgina Born has labelled ‘strange ontologies’?)

The agency (or lack thereof) of systems and their designers

Authorial responsibility in largely improvised musical works (especially where the computer is ‘autonomous’ in performance)

The possibility of interpretation when music is not conventionally specified